


The Way To A Captain's Heart

by thosewhowearplaid



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Betrayal, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, M/M, Marley (Shingeki no Kyojin), Multi, Pirates, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-24 00:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30063729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thosewhowearplaid/pseuds/thosewhowearplaid
Summary: After sailing the seas since he was twelve, the infamous Pirate Captain, Eren Jaeger, has been offered a deal of a royal pardon in exchange for assisting three diplomats to Marley to end the war.The voyage to and from Marley will last four months and during those months, Eren's morale, honour and pride will be put to the test by three fancy diplomats who worm their way into Eren's heart despite how badly he wishes against it.
Relationships: Eren Yeager/Hange Zoë, Erwin Smith/Eren Yeager, Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

The wind cooled his warm skin, the spray of the sea hit his face and the taste of salt wrapped itself around his tongue. Waves hit the side of the ship, begging him to raise the anchor and set sail once again. He was made for the sea, just like his ship. “Lower the gangplank!” A voice shouted from behind him somewhere on the main deck. A loud _thud_ swiftly followed and then, “Ready, Captain!”

Eren stared at the horizon for another moment before sighing and turning to his crew, picking up his hat and jacket as he did so. He shrugged his jacket on and smiled at his crew mates all staring up at him, “Won’t be too long, me hearties. Enjoy your time on land, it’ll probably be the last time for a while.” He put his hat on as the men and women aboard laughed, all excited for the new journey they were soon to begin.

There were times that he thought their frigate ship was too large for the small amount of crew. He had one of the largest, strongest and fastest ships on all of the seven seas and with it only had ten crew mates. When that thought arose, however, he only had to look at the smiling faces of his crew and listen to the whistling wind as it pushed the sails forward and he would remember just how stupid he would have to be to change any of it.

His boots hit the steps noisily as he walked down onto the main deck and he shot Armin, his Sailing Master and best friend, a smile as he walked past. The blond put two fingers against his forehead with a quick salute and they all watched as Eren jumped onto the gangplank and headed down onto land for the first time in a year.

His sword hit his leg as he walked and fathers pulled their children away from his path, throats bobbing and eyes darting away from him. Eren resisted the urge to cackle loudly at their fear and instead smirked. Where he was from, the children and families ogled at Pirates, they would plead to join them on their adventures and beg for a share of their treasures. The air always smelt of salt there, just like it did on his ship. Here, though, in Mitras, it didn’t smell of salt. Even with the sea just _there_ , it didn’t smell of it. It smelt of shit and piss. He glided through the streets and with the crowds parting for him, it didn’t take nearly as much time as he thought it would’ve to reach the old courthouse. The buckles on his boots and jacket rattled whilst he ascended the stone steps, emerald eyes glistening with amusement as the guards opened the doors as soon as they saw who it was under the hat.

Eren didn’t need a guide or steward to lead him to where he needed to go. He’d been there many times before and as his boots clicked against the stone, his soft yet loud whistles of the song his crew had been singing that morning alerted anyone and everyone that he was there. The whistles bounced off of the walls and he only stopped when he walked through the door at the end of the corridor.

Five people were sitting at the long wooden table with all of their eyes on him. He recognised two of them; Lord Reiss and his daughter Historia but the other three he didn’t know. “Captain Jaeger,” said Lord Reiss, voice tinted with disapproval and annoyance _already_. “I’m glad to see you received my message and that you’re not indisposed with any diseases.”

“Ah,” Eren chuckled as he approached the table, “not yet, mate. Scurvy’s not taken any of my lot yet.” When he reached the group, Lord Reiss and his daughter stood and Eren ignored the Lord with a smirk, bowed to Historia and took her soft hand, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. “It’s nice to see you again, love.”

Historia blushed, a smile playing at her lips as she replied, “And you, Captain.”

He carefully put her hand back down and gave a hand flourish to the Lord and then three others at the table, that was the only greeting he had for any of them and collapsed into the seat on the opposite side of the table, leaning back in the chair to put his boots up on the nice, expensive wood.

They all sat back down and the Lord forced a smile onto his face. “How was your…time at sea?”

“Alright,” he lifted his hat and put it onto the table, “raided a few of your pretty ships, killed some men.”

A quiet tut sounded from one of the strangers. Eren looked at him with a curious glint in his eyes; the man was small, skin as white as snow, hair darker than the night sky and eyes like knives.

“Yes, well,” Reiss cleared his throat suddenly, stealing Eren’s attention away from the disapproving stranger, “I’m assuming you’re here because of my letter.”

“Wouldn’t be ‘ere on my own choosing, mate.” He arched his back, reminding them all of a cat, and stretched. “Before we get on to any of that, how ‘bout a drink?”

“A drink?” Reiss asked disapprovingly.

“Aye. A drink – I’ve had nothing but stale water for a _year_.”

A deep sigh left the round man’s lips and he eventually lifted his hand and clicked his fingers. Eren’s brows lifted to his hairline and openly stared at the man with disgust as the doors behind the Lord opened and three serving girls entered. “I hope you don’t click at your mother like that.”

“Ha! A _pirate_ telling me about respect,” he scoffed loudly.

Eren smirked. “I think that’s more telling about _your_ lack of respect, mate, not mine.”

An unladylike snort fell from Historia that she quickly covered up with coughs and smiled at the young woman who placed a goblet of wine in front of her. A brown-haired woman with pretty eyes put a tankard of ale in front of Eren and another smirk graced his face. “Thanks, love.”

The serving girl blushed a bright pink and nodded at him before scuttling away, telling her friends all about the pirate with emerald eyes and golden skin.

Eren took a long sip of the ale, his throat thanked him for it and put the half-finished tankard down onto the table with a pleased sigh. Usually, his ship would be full to the brim of rum and ale but after a journey that was only supposed to last a month turned into a year, they were _empty_. His teeth were white but his mouth was raw from having to use salt water to brush them clean, he _needed_ the taste of alcohol to save him from losing his mind.

When Reiss opened his mouth to speak, Eren clicked his fingers, shutting him up. They stared at one another and as Reiss began to redden, Eren only grinned. He tried to speak once again but Eren stopped him with a click of his fingers. That continued until Eren was sure the man was going to begin steaming at the ears – or, more specifically, when Historia was struggling to swallow her laughter.

Reiss took a calming breath and started again, the words turning into ash on his tongue when the door behind him opened. Eren lifted his gaze to the newcomer and immediately swung his legs off of the table, “Oh, hello.” His eyes followed the young man with blond hair almost as long as Eren’s and eyes sharper than sapphires.

“Excuse the interruption, my Lord,” he said to Reiss, “there’s a problem in the treasury.”

The round man huffed and stood up, “Excuse me,” he said to everyone at the table, turned and headed through the doors. The young man remained standing and flicked his eyes up to Eren’s, he ran his gaze around the man before turning away with a smirk and faint blush to his cheeks.

Eren watched him leave all the way until the doors were closed and then moved his gaze to the amused Historia. “He ain’t yours is he, love?”

“We both know the answer to that, Captain,” her eyes twinkled.

“Aye, we do.” He flicked his eyes over the three strangers and then back to Historia with a lifted brow.

“It’s fine, Captain, they dislike my father more than you do.”

Eren laughed and finally pulled out the enveloped letter from his belt, handing it over to the eager woman. As she ripped it open and pulled out the letter, she aimlessly pulled out a similar looking envelope from between her bosom and slid it over to the table to Eren who secured it under his belt.

“Lady Historia?” asked the tall blond man who sat on the other side of Reiss’s empty seat, a hint of disapproval in his tone.

“It’s alright, mate,” Eren said as Historia ignored the man but gripped her letter tighter, “just a passing of letters between old friends.”

He snapped his ice coloured eyes onto Eren and if Eren wasn’t who he was, he would’ve froze over under the gaze. The blond was probably used to using his icy eyes to shut people up or scare them into releasing all over their deepest, darkest secrets but Eren wasn’t a steward or a fancy lord. A grin broke out onto his face as he stared back just as easily, his emerald eyes sparkling.

It was only when he heard Historia sniffle that he broke the gaze. “Alright, love?” He rushed out once he noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks.

She dropped the letter to the table and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” she cried.

Eren’s brows raised. “I hope you’re talking about this town, love. Always hate funerals.”

“Of course this _town_.”

“Oh. Leave then.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“My father!”

“You know Annie, right? One of me crew.”

She nodded behind her hands, silent sobs shaking her shoulders.

“Well,” Eren lifted his legs onto the table and rested his head back, “when she was a wee lass, her daddy wanted her to do everything he said. She followed his orders, did everything that a daughter was expected to and _still_ wasn’t good enough for ‘im. Then, one day, she was looking out her bedroom window when she saw the most beautiful ship docking up. In the spur of the moment, she packed a bag and jumped out of her window, determined to live a better life – a life that doesn’t involve pretty dresses and arranged marriages where some mediocre lad steals your maidenhead from ye. She jumped onto the ship and hid in the bilge, only coming out when the ship sailed. The Captain and crew were so impressed with this tiny wee lass breaking onto their ship that they just _had_ to let her stay.”

As he remembered the look on Annie’s small face, Eren laughed. He rubbed his stubbled jaw and grinned as he saw Historia no longer hidden behind her hands. She was watching him with a thoughtful look and Eren’s eyes darkened. “Point is, lass, you should be able to do what _you_ want to do. That daddy of yours thinks he knows what’s best for you but he don’t. I don’t, no one does. No one but you. If you wanna leave this town and find someone,” he tapped the letter underneath his belt, “then you do it. Fuck what anyone else thinks. They ain’t important.” He scratched at his chin and added, “What _is_ important, is that my ship is the one with the pretty mermaid on the bow and always sets sails at sunrise.”

Historia’s face lit up, the tears once there now nowhere to be seen. “Sunrise?”

“Aye.” He winked and added, “Chart your own course, lass.”

Historia hated being there, she always had and every poor sod in the damn town knew it. Her heart was set elsewhere. More specifically, her heart was set on a grouchy brunette that moped around on Eren’s ship.

The door opened and Eren rubbed at his face to hide the sudden grin whilst Historia shoved the letter into her dress. The Pirate Captain watched as Reiss walked in with four men following carrying heavy chests full of what Eren assumed to be gold and jewels. Not wanting to seem eager, Eren remained in his lounged position and lifted a brow at the grinning Reiss. “You’re the best Sea Captain,” said Reiss which had Eren snorting, “the island of Paradis needs your help.”

“With what?”

He raised a hand to the three strangers and said, “Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman and Doctor Hanji Zoë are diplomats. We need you to escort them to Marley to ensure the end of the war.”

The heavy chests being placed on the floor echoed loudly into the room but Eren had yet to take his eyes from Reiss. The war between Paradis and Marley had been going on for eight years and the result of it was: famine, poverty and countless, pointless deaths. For both sides. Eren and his crew had never _purposefully_ fought with the Marleyans but there had been times that their ships had got too close to Eren’s and forced them to do what they did best: raid, steal and kill. Whilst this was due to opportunity, Eren had refused to sign the deeds at the start of the war to help Paradis defeat the enemy. He wasn’t interested and refused to risk his crew’s lives for a government that wanted him dead anyway. He was a pirate with a bounty on his head, why add another threat?

With a suddenly grave and serious voice, Eren said, “You want someone to take your fancy diplomats to Marley, find a fucking _privateer_.”

“You’re a pirate, are you not?” The small man with raven hair, Levi, said. “There’s a lot more money in it for you if you accept. You’ll be paid double when we return.”

“No amount of money is worth mine or my crew’s lives.” Eren shot the small man a cold glare and then put his attention back to Reiss, “Like I said before, _mate_ , find a privateer.” He picked up his hat and swung his legs off of the table, heading for the door without a glance in anyone’s direction.

Reiss called for him to stop but Eren ignored him and continued walking, whistling once again as his many buckles jangled noisily and somewhat satisfyingly. And then, just as he reached the doors, Reiss shouted, “All of your crimes will be eradicated!”

Eren’s steps halted, the whistles silenced. He spun back around on his heel and lifted a brow as he said, “You what?”

It physically _pained_ Reiss to spit, “All of yours and your crew’s crimes will be erased. You will be… _free._ ” He yanked a rolled piece of parchment from his inside jacket and held it out to Eren with a grimace.

Eren stared at the man for a moment and then began heading back to the table, his fingers spinning the many rings on his right hand. When he reached the table, he held his hand out and grinned when the man slapped the parchment into it. It was sealed with the King’s stamp and Eren whistled. He broke the seal and unrolled the parchment, his quick eyes scanning the words. Reiss was right, if they escorted the diplomats to and from Marley all of their crimes would be eradicated. No take backs, no loopholes, just complete freedom. Eren rolled it back up, secured it behind his belt and took a step away from the table.

“So?” Reiss urged impatiently.

Smirking, Eren took off his hat and bowed with a flourish, “At your service, my Lord.”

The diplomats were to arrive at the port just before sunrise, giving Eren enough time to try and convince his crew that going to Marley was a _good_ idea. As soon as he boarded his ship, he handed the eager Ymir the letter and watched as she ran off below deck with a grunt in response. Eren took it as a _thank you, Captain_ and continued to the helm where Armin and Mikasa was standing. Armin was the Sailing Master which meant that he was in charge of navigating and sometimes piloting the ship and whilst he was a pirate, he was the smartest man that Eren had ever met. Mikasa was Eren’s right-hand woman and Quartermaster, she was in charge whenever he wasn’t around and was also the one who overlooked the food and water supplies to make sure they had enough to keep them all from starvation and dehydration during their long voyages. They weren’t just crew mates, however. They were best friends and had been since they were young children. They had grown up together on a small sea town called Shiganshina and after the destruction of their homes, they escaped the death and fires by stealing a small ship which henceforth began their piracy journey, picking up crew members and _The Titan_ as they sailed around the world.

“What’d he want?” Mikasa asked when Eren approached the wheel and binnacle.

“Twelve coffers and this,” Eren pulled the parchment free and handed it to his friends, “all for taking some fancy diplomats to Marley.”

“Marley?!” they both spat. Armin took the parchment, eyes narrowed in disapproval at the thought of them going to _Marley_. When he read the letter, however, he changed his tune quite quickly. “Blimey. A royal pardon.”

Mikasa snatched it from his hands and quickly read, surprise pushing her brows to her hairline. “Just to take some fancy cunts to a war zone?”

“Aye,” the Captain replied. “What d’you think then? Think the crew will go with it?”

“For twelve coffers and this,” Armin scoffed, “I think they’d vote aye on visiting Davy Jones’ Locker.”

Eren laughed richly and clapped his friend on the shoulder. He turned to face the deck and yelled, “Avast ye!” Everyone on deck stopped what they were doing and turned to Eren, even Ymir had pulled herself up from the berth down below to see what was going on. Eren took the pardon from Mikasa and held it up in the air, “Twelve coffers and a royal pardon is ours if we take some fancy diplomats to Marley so they can end their shitty war! What do you say, me hearties? We up for it?”

The crew all looked around one another and then every single one of them shouted with shit eating grins, “Aye, Cap’t’n!”

“Set sail at sunrise!”

“Aye, aye!”

Eren turned back to his best friends with a cat-like smirk, “Bring on the next four months, mates.” He dislodged a glass bottle of rum from his leather belt and passed it between his friends, all smiling and imagining all of the _new_ trouble they could get up to when they were pardoned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally set sail, beginning their journey to the dreaded island of Marley.
> 
> *Mention of sexual assault in this chapter.

As the sun began peeping up from the horizon, Eren was walking across the deck, calling out orders to his crew to ready the ship and the two months’ worth of sailing they were going to have to live through before stopping at Marley. The voyage to Marley would last two months and - if they weren’t killed by Marleyan soldiers - then two months back, meaning they had to make sure they had enough food, water and livestock to last them until then; especially if they were being joined by three fancy diplomats who’d probably never struggled for food a day in their lives. Eren didn’t mention to anyone about the possibility of Historia joining them, he’d _hinted_ at it to Mikasa to ensure they had enough, just in case, but after she ordered Connie and Jean to fetch another couple of chickens, there was nothing else mentioned about their possible stowaway.

With the orange and pink blending in the sky, the crew of _The Titan_ ran around, following orders with smiles on their faces and songs in their throats. The two tallest and probably the strongest under the Captain and Quartermaster, were Reiner and Bertholdt and whilst they fixed the rigging and sails, they swore up at Sasha who stood on the crow’s nest, telling them that they were doing it all wrong, her cheeks round and mouth full of bread. Connie and Jean were scrubbing the deck, jumping over patches of suds that the other hadn’t yet washed away. Underneath the deck, bickering away, was Ymir and Annie, securing and readying the cannons and artillery - _just in case_. In another room tucked away underneath the deck, beside the officer’s quarters, Mikasa and Marco were checking their supplies and making sure they had enough to last.

Eren skipped over Connie’s clean patch of the deck and chuckled to himself when the man squealed, rushing to clean it all over again even. He jogged up the small amount of steps to reach the helm and smiled at Armin when the man briefly looked up from the charts and compass. “Alright?” he asked.

“Aye.” The blond looked up once again, this time nudging his head to the laughing Jean as Connie slipped over his patch, “The crew seems to be in high spirits, even if we _are_ sailing straight into hell.”

Eren stood beside him, eyes flicking between each member of his crew on the main deck. Sasha was cackling loudly, her legs kicking out at Reiner as he climbed the rigging to try and pull her down, Bertholdt watching from below with a smile on his face, telling Reiner to _“take it easy before you pull a muscle!”_ which only had Sasha laughing harder. Armin was right. If anyone on land were to look at them, they wouldn’t think that they were moments away from setting sail to Marley, the one place that any sane person would steer away from.

With a light chuckle, Eren nudged his best friend and said, “Better than them pissing themselves.”

Armin looked up at the taller Captain and even though he smiled back at him, Eren could see the trepidation behind the ocean blue eyes. The usual amusement fell from Eren’s face, his brows knitting together in a silent question. “It’ll take us four months in total, right?” Armin eventually sighed, looking down to the chart.

“Aye.”

“If they’re that adamant on wanting to stop the war, they’ll want to get there and back quicker than that.”

“Well, we can’t.”

Armin’s eyes twitched and with an uncertain finger, tapped a part of the chart that had the rum and bread curdling in Eren’s stomach. “If we take the _Dead Man’s Passage,_ it’ll knock off at least a month.” When he was met with nothing but silence from the Captain, Armin looked up to see the hard emeralds fixed on the stony passage beneath Armin’s finger. “We’ll be pardoned quicker this way, Eren,” he said softly.

“Aye,” he eventually said, his gaze snapping up to Armin, “but we take that passage, there’s a chance that none of us come back to collect the fucking thing. We’re going the _safe_ way, alright? We’re not going anywhere near those fucking waters.”

After sailing the seas together for fourteen years, Eren’s, Armin’s and Mikasa’s skills, expertise and knowledge was far greater than anyone on land could ever comprehend. They trusted each other with their entire lives and all three of them could sail the ship with their eyes closed, trusting their own judgement and instincts to take them where they needed to be. With their years of experience, the trio could take deadly passages, face oncoming storms and even break in and out of places that were rumoured to be impenetrable - they were reckless, fearless and loved to fight. But this passage, the _Dead Man’s Passage_ , had the blood in Eren’s veins freezing over. It made sense to take the passage, it was logical and with their improved skills, it would be fine but the look on Eren’s face had removed any and all of Armin’s will to fight him on it.

It was then Sasha, the lookout, who called out, “Cap, fancy people approaching!”

Eren looked up from the chart, noticing Reiss, the three diplomats and many guards approaching the port and their ship. He grabbed his hat and headed down to the main deck, leaning over the side of the ship as Connie and Jean lower the gangplank. Eren’s emerald eyes skimmed over the group, taking notice of the fifteen guards and their swords, knives and guns. Several stragglers on the port stopped what they were doing to take a look at the pirate ship, watching to see if a fight would break out.

Once the gangplank was lowered with a loud _thud_ , Eren headed down to the dock with Reiner and Bertholdt towing behind, their fingers itching to grab the four coffers that had been placed in front of Reiss’ feet. When they came to a stop in front of the _fancy people_ , Eren gave his two friends a nod and without asking the Lord or anyone else if it was fine to take, the two taller man heaved the four coffers onto their shoulders with a grin at the pale faced Reiss. “This ain’t one of the one we taking, is it, Cap?” Reiner asked.

“Thankfully not, no,” Eren smirked.

Reiner nodded and took a step closer to Reiss, slapping his red cheek lightly, “Maybe next time, eh?” He secured the chests on his shoulders once more and turned back to the ship, grinning at the laughing Eren.

The guards behind Reiss lowered their swords and guns and the round man drew in heavy breaths, his face red and nostrils flared like a dragon’s. After regaining the control on his laughter, Eren leant casually against the docking pole and asked, “No pretty daughters with ye?”

“Of course not,” Reiss spat, seemingly mortified that he would even ask such a thing.

Without conscious thought, Eren’s eyes dropped to the ground. He was _sure_ that this would’ve been the time that Historia would’ve join their ship. She seemed so adamant yesterday and with what Ymir had told him, she’d written about doing _anything_ to reunite.

“That’s a shame,” Eren said with a smile, looking up at the man once again.

“It is?”

“’Course, would’ve been nice to have her on board.”

“She would _never_! Historia is a good girl, nothing like you pirates!”

“Oi,” called Jean from where he leant over the side of the ship, a smug smile tugging at his lips, “Historia would be alright with us.”

“No daughter is _ever_ safe with men like you,” Reiss spat.

Jean laughed loudly. “You _really_ don’t need to worry about men like _me_. She ain’t my type, mate.” He slapped the piece of wood he was leaning on and turned back, going back to helping with the rigging, chuckling to himself all the while.

Eren watched as disgust flooded over Reiss’s face and for a moment, the amusement and cheeriness dropped from his face. “Hey,” he said, his voice suddenly _very_ dark, “you got a problem with who my crew mates fuck?”

“Yes! It’s – it’s…”

Eren pushed himself up from against the pole and wrapped his hand around the grip of his sword, “I _dare_ you to finish that sentence.”

Noticing the fury forming in Eren’s eyes and the terrifyingly calm expression, Reiss bit his tongue and held a hand up, stopping any of his guards from raising their weapons any more they already were. “I apologise,” he forced himself to say, “it’s just that on land, sodomy is punishable by death.”

“We know that, mate,” Eren said, still dark and calm like an approaching storm, “that’s why so many poor lads and lasses fuck off to sail the seven seas.” He released his sword and pressed on, “Being killed for who you love or because you’re _different_ , that don’t make you the bad one. The ones doing the sentencing and killing are the one’s going to hell.”

Everyone stared back at him, watching the storm cross his eyes and words he spoke burning into their minds, taking refuge there until the end of the time. All of a sudden, the storm dropped and the grin was back. “Alright, then,” he said cheerily, “we ain’t got all day.” He turned to _finally_ look at the diplomats and gestured towards his ship, “Get on board, fancy diplomats, before we leave without you.”

They turned to Reiss, said goodbye and then with their duffle’s thrown over their shoulders, walked on the gangplank to board Eren’s ship. Once they were situated, Eren gave a flourish of his hand to Reiss and headed onboard.

Decidedly ignoring Reiss from that moment onwards, Eren left Connie and Jean to pull the gangplank back up and he turned to the diplomats. “You don’t like me very much, do you?” he asked them. When they replied with nothing but silence and stares, Eren laughed and rubbed his hands together, his rings clashing loudly. “I thought not. That’s alright, you won’t have to deal with me very often. Me Quartermaster took care of your rooms and all that, so, go to her if you have any problems and then to me if she can’t do anything. Mikasa, come introduce yourself, love.”

“Don’t call me love,” she muttered as she approached from just a few paces away. She stood by her Captain and smiled lightly, “I can show you to your room if you want to put your things away?”

“Thank you,” said Erwin with a polite smile.

Eren kept his mouth shut instead of mentioning that he was the one taking them to a _fucking warzone_ and they couldn’t even be bothered to give him a bloody smile. He didn’t like them before but now he _really_ didn’t like them.

Mikasa looked to Eren and led them away when he nodded. They were to share one room in the officer’s quarters underneath Eren’s cabin and opposite Armin and Mikasa’s shared room. He watched them leave, turning away with a roll of his eyes when he heard Hanji speak politely to Mikasa.

When the gangplank was raised and the sails were set, Reiner told the Captain that they were ready to leave whenever Eren ordered it but Eren didn’t want to leave yet. He stood at the side of the ship, staring down into the town, searching for a small woman with golden hair. Reiss and his guards were long gone and nowhere in sight but Eren didn’t care about them - he was so _sure_ that this would’ve been the time.

It was when the sun was high in the sky and Mikasa and the diplomats had returned to deck, that Armin stood beside Eren and asked, “What’s going on? What we waiting for?”

They were wasting time and he knew it. Was he really going to endanger themselves on land in a shitty town for a _Lady_ who couldn’t risk anything for love and a life away from societal pressure and norms? No, fuck that. “Weigh anchor!” He shouted. “Let’s get the hell out of this shit smelling place!”

“Aye, Captain!” His crew all shouted.

Eren turned away from the town, annoyance buried in his chest but his usual amusement plastered on his face. It wasn’t often that someone surprised and disappointed him but when he imagined the sad, forlorn expression on Ymir’s face when she realised that Historia had decided to stay, once again, it had him regretting ever bringing them together.

Both Eren and Armin moved to the helm and just as Eren touched the wheel to control the rudders, there was sudden shout from somewhere on the port.

“Wait!”

Not even needing to look at who it was, Eren released a relieved sigh. “Fucking ‘ell, love,” he called out, “took your time!”

Historia was running towards the dock with a hooded cape, her blonde hair _just_ visible. Eren leapt from the helm, grabbed a loose rope from the foremast and jumped up, kicking the mast to push himself in a swing. As he flew through the air, he used his free arm to grab the woman who instantly threw her arms around his neck and he swung them back around to the ship that was leaving the dock.

They landed on the dock with a _thud_ and Eren released the rope with a grin.

“Eren!” Mikasa yelled. “Who the fuck is that?! You can’t _steal_ people from the place giving us a fucking pardon!”

Eren waved her off and pulled Historia’s hood down, revealing her face to her crew.

They all stared at her as she panted and fanned her red face.

And then, Reiner whooped loudly, “No fucking way!” He sprinted towards them and picked Historia up into a tight hug as she laughed. “Fucking finally!”

Sasha cheered and Connie called out, “Ymir! Come up ‘ere!” Jean and Marco hugged the blonde after Reiner had finally put her down, followed by Bertholdt, Armin and even Mikasa. When the door for the under deck opened, everyone stopped and turned to see a soot covered Ymir walk out with a scowl.

The scowl instantly dropped once she saw Historia.

Her breath caught in her throat. “W-what?” She looked around, noticing the three new diplomats watching her with interest and then to Historia. She had to blink and rub the soot from her eyes just in case they were making her see things but even with the blur now gone, Historia still remained.

“Hi,” Historia said quietly with a small smile.

Ymir took an uncertain step forwards, released a shaky breath and then ran straight for the blonde woman. Historia jumped up into her arms and they held each other tighter than they ever thought they would. Tears sprang from the blonde’s eyes and she said just loud enough for the wind to carry, “I love you.”

“I love you. So fucking much,” Ymir croaked, her nose buried into the crook of Historia’s neck.

As they all watched with smiles, Eren draped an arm around Armin’s shoulders and grinned down at him. “Ain’t I the best Captain?” Armin laughed, keeping his eyes on the hugging women as he dropped his head to rest against Eren’s warm body, both men seemingly forgetting about the tense conversation they shared on the helm only ten minutes ago.

When the women eventually left to reunite _properly_ in the crew’s quarters — no one wanted to remind them that they only had hammocks — Eren noticed the three diplomats staring right at him. He waited for them to have a go and say that they had to turn around _right_ that instant to take Lady Historia back home. He waited. And waited. But they never did. They turned away and spoke amongst themselves. With a scoff at their inability to even argue with him, Eren pulled Armin away from the main deck and up to the helm where they could control the ship to lead them to Marley.

Eren was standing in the bow, eyes fixed on the sea before him. The sounds of the waves crashing and the bright blue sky above felt like _home_. His long hair danced in the wind, his earrings glistened in the sunlight and his heart soared. Being out at sea was where he belonged. It was where they all belonged.

“How long’s the journey there, Captain?”

Eren barely turned his head to greet the three diplomats and answered the blond man’s question with a gruff, “Two months. If the weather treats us well.”

“Two months?!” Hanji annoyingly spluttered. “That’s too long. Isn’t there a secret way that pirates can go to get us there quicker?”

“I told you yesterday, love, no amount of money is worth my crew’s lives. If you want to use the _Dead Man’s Passage_ , find another Captain who’ll take you there.”

“We _need_ to get there before that,” she urged. “We have to get there as soon as possible.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Find a different ship then. The plank’s just there, take yer pretty self for a dive and swim to someone else suicidal enough.”

A deadly silence followed and even though Eren couldn’t see the diplomats, he knew that they hadn’t moved away from the bow. It didn’t matter how quickly they _needed_ to get there, he’d dealt with angrier and _scarier_ fucks than them. He’d throw them to the sharks if they kept going on. They or the stupid war were _not_ worth risking his and his crew’s lives for.

“You pirates are always so fucking annoying,” muttered Levi.

“Met many pirates, have ye?”

“A few.”

“Bet none of them were as pretty as me.”

“Tch. You’re all too obnoxious for my liking.”

Once again, he rolled his eyes. He was _trying_ not to hate the diplomats but they were just so… _fancy_. Sure, pirates were obnoxious but at least they admitted it, fancy people like them never once admitted they had faults and instead looked down their noses to everyone below them. Eren could _never_ like people like them.

“I like your ship,” said Erwin.

Just because he complimented his ship didn’t mean he was nice. Though, Eren did smile and turned to him with an excited glint in his emerald eyes. “Nice, ain’t she?”

The blond nodded, his icy blue eyes looking around. “What do you call her?”

“ _The Titan_ ,” he replied. He looked over his shoulder at the mermaid under the bowsprit with a fond expression. “Had her for ten years.”

“Ten years?” Levi scoffed. “You must’ve started young.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Eren turned to Levi with his usual grin. “Aye, mate, we did. Had a smaller ship before this one but she was our prize.”

“Prize?” Levi’s eyes narrowed with subtle anger. “Who’d you kill to win it?”

It was getting progressively harder not to throw them overboard. His smile faltered just long enough for them to notice and Eren’s voice was cold as he said, “A cunt who deserved it.”

“Really?” He scoffed. “What’d he do to deserve death?”

The smile had disappeared entirely now. “He killed my entire family in front me.” He took a step towards the smaller man who’s eyes had widened. “He raped and killed my mother, slit my father’s throat and took my brother’s head from his shoulders. And then, he and his mates burnt my town to the ground. Armin, Mikasa and I are the only ones left from our home – everyone else is dead. So, you tell me, mate, still don’t think he deserved it?”

The small man was staring up at him, something similar to guilt flashing over his ivory white face. Eren couldn’t tear his emerald eyes from his silver, his calm expression covering the storm that the three diplomats could sense. They could see the fury and bloodthirsty pirate under his even breaths and plain expression.

“Captain!”

Just like that, Eren switched. Gone was the storm and anger, a grin and cheeriness taking place. “What is it, lass?” Eren called up to the lookout.

“I smell a storm!” Sasha yelled back.

“How far?”

“Few hours, Cap.”

Eren looked to Armin in the helm and after a shared look, he shouted, “Man the sails! Outrun the bitch!”

A round of, _“Aye, Cap’t’n!”_ echoed through the ship and Eren moved his gaze to the horizon behind the helm, watching for a moment before pulling his eyes to the three diplomats with his easy grin, “Hope the room’s alright.” He moved through the gap between Levi and Hanji and headed for the helm on the other side of the deck, taking charge of steering the rudder and the ship away from the storm.

It was going to be a really long four months.

After successfully managing to outrun the storm, the crew were lounging on the main deck, basking in the sun and steady sailing. Eren, the diplomats and Mikasa were sitting on stools and crates whilst the others rested upon the warm wood. Ymir and Historia were _still_ under deck reuniting but no one had the heart to disrupt them.

Eren had discarded his jacket hours ago, leaving him in just black pants and a loose fitted crimson shirt with the buttons half-way undone, revealing a leather necklace with a golden key hanging from it and tattoos inked onto his body. He had his head resting back against the edge of the ship, eyes closed.

“Sasha,” Reiner muttered from his position on the deck, his arm across his face, “tell me there’s some ships to raid.”

Sasha, who was still in the crow’s nest, one eye hidden behind a patch and the other closed, sighed deeply and opened her eye to scan the horizon. “No.” She closed her eye once more and added, “Piss off for a bit, aye?”

Reiner groaned and turned to lay on his stomach. “I’m so _bored_. I need to steal something.”

Annie and Connie hummed in agreement.

“Why don’t you go have a bath?” Eren asked, still keeping his eyes closed.

Reiner lifted his head from the deck and turned to the brunet. “What you trying to say, Cap?”

Several of their friends snickered. “Fuck all, mate,” Eren smirked lazily.

“Ohh, you cheeky bastard. I’ll bring a mutiny!”

Their friends all laughed, even Sasha cackled loudly from up above. Reiner pushed himself up to crouch with a grin, staring at his Captain who he would’ve thought was asleep if he hadn’t heard him speak.

“Alright,” Eren said, “do it.”

Reiner only grinned wider. “Nah, don’t wanna embarrass you, Cap.”

Finally, Eren opened his eyes. His emeralds snapped onto Reiner’s blue and he leant forward on the stool, “You take my key and you’ll be Captain.”

“Ooooh,” echoed Sasha and Connie.

Reiner’s gaze flicked down to the golden key swaying from Eren’s hard, tanned chest. “I just have to _take_ it?”

“Aye.”

“…Alright.”

He stood up and rubbed his hands together, thinking of all of the ways he could retrieve the key from around his Captain’s neck. He didn’t even _want_ to be Captain – they all knew it – but it was the fun that he wanted to save him from his boredom. Eren was still sitting down and so Reiner took the chance to charge forward, his heavy size and bulky form working for him as he ran.

Just at the last minute, Eren shot upwards, grabbed the man’s midriff and arm, tossing him over his shoulder. Eren spun around just in time to watch as Reiner plummeted into the blue ocean, laughter erupting from behind him.

“Told you to have a bath, mate,” Eren laughed when Reiner surfaced.

Reiner laughed hysterically. “You bastard!”

“Hey, Captain.”

Eren turned around but didn’t have the time to react as Mikasa pushed him overboard.

The most important thing was the key and once Eren was sure it was still secure around his neck, his lips tugged up into an amused smile, thinking of all of the ways he could get Mikasa back for doing what she did. _To her Captain, no less._ It didn’t take the man long to surface beside the hysterical Reiner and he shoved his middle finger up at the smirking Mikasa and the rest of his laughing crew as they hung over the side of the ship. Once Eren had swiped his hat before it could float too far away, he and Reiner began trying to drown one another, much to their friend’s amusement.

When their lungs were too tired to carry on, they swam to the other side of the ship to climb up the Jacob’s ladder. Eren let Reiner climb up first and it was only when he was onboard, that he began to climb. When he jumped onto the deck, all eyes were on him, taking in every inch of the Captain's well sculpted body and plain expression. Water droplets rolled from his face, throat and down his chest where his shirt clung tightly onto him, showing off every inch of hard muscle. He raked his wet hair back with his fingers, dropped his hat back onto his head and snapped his gaze onto Mikasa.

She was sitting on her crate, her arms folded across her chest and a smug look on her face.

Every step he took was loud and powerful. “I will never hurt a lady,” Eren said strongly with his hands moving elegantly to enunciate every word, “but on your behalf, I will hurt yer boyfriend.”

Armin jumped up from his spot on the deck with a squeak and tried to run from Eren’s grabbing hands. However, as always, he wasn’t quick enough. His crew spluttered with laughter as Eren shoved Armin’s head into the crook of his arm and rubbed his knuckles over his skull.

The three diplomats watched with hidden smiles, focusing on the way Eren’s hair curled from the sea and how droplets rolled down the opening of his shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I appreciate every kudos and comment, you're all so kind <3


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